Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is being criticized more and more harshly abroad – but his poll ratings are rising again in the country. Does this fit together? Questions for his biographer Mazal Mualem.
Ms. Mualem, in recent days many people in Israel have been outraged at Benjamin Netanyahu. A photo from the Knesset made the rounds showing him grinning broadly. And this despite the fact that Israeli soldiers had been killed shortly before. What was going on?
The debate over the photo shows very well why opinions about the prime minister are currently divided in Israel. On the one hand, there are those who accuse him of ignorance. The night before, the families of four soldiers received the news that their sons were returning from Gaza in coffins. Netanyahu was also informed. That is why many are angry that he smiled at a vote victory he achieved in the Knesset. Others, however, celebrate his political success.